If you sit down at any beer tasting bar in America and loudly mention Force Awakens, I guarantee you will immediately strike up a conversation with more than one of your fellow tasters. With the rise of craft beer in America, beer geeks have become a fascinating breed. They tend to be smart, quirky, friendly, and simply obsessed with all things beer. A beer geek will gladly have an entire conversation on the pros/cons of sour beers, their favorite hops, and yes, Star Wars.
This natural intersection between geeky craft beer fans has led to a number of geek-themed beers. Brewers are notorious for pun-y beer names and these often skew towards the nerdy. There are beers that appeal to history buffs, space fanatics, scientists, and avid readers. The newest trend is for breweries to team up with Hollywood studios to make branded beers for fantasy fans. As the craft beer trend shows no signs of slowing down, we should be seeing more and more of these geeky beers being offered.
Star Trek
Photo Credit: ComicsNBeer
Many of us remember the dearly departed Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas. The replica of Quark’s Bar was an amazing place where you could grab a nice, cool Romulan Ale next to a Klingon or a Ferengi. This was one of the first geeky beers on the market and while the bottles of the hard stuff are no longer available, this blue ale inspired a whole generation of brewers and beer fans.
Game of Thrones
Photo Credit: Dina Kampmeyer
In 2013, Ommegang Brewing paired up with HBO to create the ultimate geek beer. The Iron Throne was a delicious blonde ale that included the official Game of Thrones logo and artwork on the bottle. This collaboration has been so successful that there have already been five different beers released (Iron Throne, Take the Black Stout, Fire and Blood, Valar Morghulis, and Three-Eyed Raven) with more on the way.
Photo Credit: Dina Kampmeyer
Brewbubs across the country have thrown release parties for the new line (with collectible glasses available) which include cosplayers and even replicas of the actual Iron Throne. This line has been consistentlyhigh-quality and it’s the perfect Sunday night drink to accompany your Game of Thrones viewings.
The Hobbit
Photo Credit: Seattle Beer News
Another official tie-in beer is the series of Hobbit-themed brews from Fish Brewing. There were three beers in the original 2014 release that were themed to Hobbit villains Gollum, Smaug, and Bolg. The newest additions released this year include nods to Azog and the Battle Trolls.
Star Wars
Photo Credit: BeerPulse
In 2006, Americas Brewpub created an unofficial nod to our favorite faceless Star Wars baddies with their Imperial Stormtrooper Stout. The recipe has since been handed off to New England Brewing Co. and as of 2015, you can still get your hands on new vintages. Fingers crossed that we’ll get some official Star Wars beers soon.
H.P. Lovecraft
Photo Credit: Narragansett Beer
For you H.P. Lovecraft fans out there, Narragansett Beer has three brews honoring this Cthulhu creator. They have a Lovecraft Honey Ale, the Innsmouth Olde Ale, and the Reanimator Helles Lager. Drink these canned brews at your own risk and beware the rising of the ancient one.
W00tstout
Photo Credit: Stone Brewing
No discussion of geeky beers would be complete without mentioning the infamous Drew Curtis/Wil Wheaton/Greg Koch Farking Wheaton W00tstout. Created in 2013 by Stone Brewing, this barrel-aged stout is inspiring by one of our favorite geeks, Wil Wheaton and his annual W00tstock event. This release has proven to be so popular that an entire festival takes place every year at the San Diego based Stone Brewery during Comic-Con to celebrate its release. Hop-Con: The W00tstout Festival celebrates all things beer and geek.
History and Space
Photo Credit: Dogfish Head
The team at Dogfish Head Brewing are huge beer geeks and have brewed up some very unusual releases. For you space fans, they had a very limited 2013 release of an ale brewed with actual meteorites, Celest-jewel-ale. Their Birra Etrusca Bronze was created to appeal to history fans. The recipe was crafted by analyzing the contents of drinking vessels found in 2,800-year-old Etruscan tombs. Keep your eyes open for more interesting releases from this clever brewing team.
What’s your go-to geeky beer? Let us know in the comments!
Featured Image: FirstWeFeast